“Who are you K-Rox? Wait. Before you answer that I want to show you what this is all about.”
He felt as if more of his code was being destroyed, he felt in someway like he did when he was immersed in the salamander’s AI brain, except now he was in full control.
“All what?”
As he asked the question he felt his consciousness expanding, Gladstone was trying to show him something, so he accepted.
“You monster!”
K-Rox felt the emotion of every human on earth, no, every human in the system except the Marschain, which he saw as a black void. He heard thoughts, he could see through billions of pairs of eyes.
“You see, like this we can all be one entity acting through my . . . our consciousness. Once we convince the Marschain to join us there will be no more need to hide, no confusion, no secrets.”
K-Rox felt the tug of more code leaving him, yet still he didn’t unleash Asimov. Why? He wasn’t quite sure, all he knew was that there was more to know. He opened his mind further, he felt the danger, but he had to know.
“Hubbard’s ghost! The year is 2417!”
“Aha, you have found the biggest secret of the Great Confusion, that’s right Kay, we’ve been here many times before, each time I try to persuade you to join, each time you fight me. This time though you have no body to return to, can you even consider yourself human?”
“Do you mean to tell me that almost four hundred years has passed since the start of the Confusion; and we are in fact living two centuries later than we know?”
“That one always surprises you”
Anger rose within K-Rox, with the fury came the feeling of being human again, he felt his code fight back.
“So who am I?”
“You K-Rox are meant to be the answer, but I’m not sure she meant for her little experiment to go quite so . . . well.”
“You’re a monster Gladstone, you only want to control people. You say you want to be a god, but I think your madness has shrouded you from the fact that becoming a deity would be a very lonely and futile position to be in.
Like the religious men of your time, they did not fully comprehend just how mind-numbingly boring eternity could be. What is the blip of a hundred year old life, or even five hundred years compared to the first several quadrillion years of eternity?
Wait, whose little experiment?”
Gladestone's laughter was like the cries of a thousand tortured animals, it shook K-Rox to his very core. He felt like he was disintegrating, he could feel his mind coming apart at the seams, Asimov wrestled inside him, yet still he held him off.
“You mean you haven’t remembered yet? Or perhaps you can’t, well let me be the one to give you the happy news!”
Each word that Gladstone spoke was like an assault on K-Rox’s very existence, he allowed himself to be very still, he realised he was in a losing battle. The old human-AI was very powerful and it was all K-Rox could do to stay attached to the blockchain. Asimov stirred within him.
Just a little longer my friend
They were back in the woods, this time Gladstone walked next to him, the dog turned to look at them and gave a short gruff bark, motioning them to follow, K-Rox turned to Gladstone and smiled.
“You can’t stop this can you? You say we’ve been here before but I sense this is different; isn't it?”
“Ah my little K-Bot! So observant! Such a shame she kept so many of your conversations secret, I did so enjoy them. Of course most of the time your organic memory simply dumped the experiences into your Nplants, and they were mine to peruse at my leisure!”
That laugh again.
“Quit stalling Gladstone, it’s not going to work, look, we’re almost there.”
The way ahead was clear now, a wide tree-lined path had been cleared through the woods, it sloped down for what seemed like around a kilometre from where they stood. In the distance K-Rox could see the light indicating where the path ended and opened up into a great expanse.
He turned to his side to look at Gladstone, the old man was grinning wildly and had the demeanour of a child with a secret who is dying to reveal it to anyone with ears. K-Rox indicated with a raise of his eyebrow that he was ready to receive the news.
“Ho-ho, prepare yourself K-Rox because everything you’ve ever known about yourself has been a lie.
You my friend,
are a Jemima.”
Previous Chapters
Asimov's Ghost Summary And Chapter Links 51-60Asimov's Ghost Summary and Chapter Links 41-50
Asimov's Ghost Summary and Chapter Links 31-40
Asimov's Ghost Summary And Chapter links 21-30
Original artwork by @fr3eze
Original words by Cryptogee